292 



ANATID^, DUCKS. GEN. 266-8. 



■V/ 



o 



band, and a black chin-patch and eye-ring; collar round neck, and upper 

 parts, lustrous velvety black, the lengthened curly scapulars and tertiaries 

 silvery-white on the inner webs, the lesser and middle wing coverts white, 

 the greater coverts and secondaries white-tipped, enclosing the violet 

 speculum; under parts rich reddish-brown, blackening on the belly and 

 crissum, fading through buff to white on the breast and sides, where there 

 are black spots. ? rcddish-hrown, blackening below, varied with darker on 

 the head, neck and fore parts; tips of greater coverts and secondaries alone 

 white, enclosing the speculum. Length about 18; wing 8. Northwest 



_ Coast. NuTT.,ii,451 ; 



^^ ^-^■°^- ~^fe?°"-^^- ' AuD.,vi,368,pl.407; 



--__^^g ^~-=- Bd., 801. STELLERII. 



^ , ^^ ** Bill without frontal 



^^^r^^ processes, feathered to 



a ^ the nostrils. {Lampro- 



S^ _ netta.) 



J^ Zr- Spectacled Eider. 



^ $ black or blackish, 

 the throat, most of 

 neck, fore back, wing 

 coverts, scapulars, ter- 

 tials and ilank-patch, 

 white ; nape and occi- 

 put green ; a whitish 

 space round eye, 

 bounded by black ; 9 

 said to be brown, varied with darker, the chin and throat whitish, the eye 

 patch obscurely indicated ; after the summer moult the <J is said to be like 

 the 9 . Length about 2 feet. Northwest Coast, common about St. Michaels. 

 Dall, Trans. Chicago Acad, i, 299 ; Elliot, pi. 47 ; Bd., 803. fischekii. 

 *** Bill with frontal processes, not feathered to the nostrils. {Somateria.) 

 Uider Duck. Bill with long club-shaped processes extending in a line 

 with the culmen upon the sides of the forehead, divided bj' a broad feathered 

 interspace. ^ in breeding attire white, creamy-tinted on breast and washed 

 with green on head; under parts from the breast, lower back, rump, tail, 

 quills, and large forked patch on the crown, ))lack. 9 with the bill less 

 developed, general plumage an extremely variable shade of reddish-browni or 

 ochrey-brown, speckled, mottled and barred with darker ; $ in certain stages 

 resembling the 9. Length about 2 feet ; wing 11-12 inches. Arctic and 

 N. Atlantic Coasts, abundant, S. in winter to New England commonly, to 

 the Middle States rarely. This celebrated bird, semi-domesticated in some 

 places, yields most of the prized eider-down of commerce, which the parent 

 plucks from the breast to cover the eggs ; eggs commonly 3-4, pale dull 

 greenish. WiLS., viii, 122, pi. 71, f. 2, 3 ; Nutt., ii, 407 ; Add., vi, 349, 

 pi. 405 ; Bd., 809. The American bird has lately been separated from the 



Fig. 191. Spectuclert Eider. 



